Rancho Murieta Youth Enrichment Advocacy kicks off a series of fundraisers for a skate park at Stonehouse Park with the first of two car washes Sunday. The car wash will be held from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Rancho Murieta Association parking lot.

A second car wash takes place Aug. 17. Dancing under the Stars and Family B-B-Q events will be held Sept. 12 and Oct. 17. Dates for future events that include a dinner, haunted house, bingo/casino night, pasta feed and a cruise to Mexico will be announced.

The volunteer group’s goal is to raise $350,000 to construct the 10,000-square-foot skateboard park. To date, $140,000 in donations has been received.

Organizers point to Stephen Kesich, 18, among the donors. At age 13, he started saving coins in a jar for a skateboard facility. Five years later, Kesich, a sophomore at Chico State and still skateboarding, offered YEA his jarful of coins. Organizers quote him as saying, “This isn’t much, but I’ve saved this money all these years in hopes that it might one day be used to help build a skate park for the youth of our community, and I want you to have it.”

The stated mission of the nonprofit advocacy is “to bring adults and youth together to plan and implement projects and programs for and on behalf of the community that will enrich the lives of Rancho Murieta youth.”

A 39-page proposal YEA produced for the skate park project is available here. The park is the group’s first project.

For information or to volunteer, contact Wendy Mazzoni at rudymazz@sbcglobal.net. The group also has a site here at RM.com.

Previous coverage

• Overflow crowd at RMA backs skate park proposal (April 23, 2007)